Or, even better, may I never again doubt the power of a marketing opportunity whose time has come.

Almost immediately after news of Thursday’s trade began to spread, it became very clear that, some 20 months after Wade played his last game in South Beach, the appetite among Heat fans to see the franchise legend back in his old familiar jersey was incredibly strong … and that the desire to see him in Miami’s new colors was even stronger.

The Heat wasted little time showing fans what Dwyane Wade will look like in their new VICE uniforms. (Image via @MiamiHeat)

Two hours after the 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, the Heat made the very shrewd decision to put their new “VICE” jerseys — easily the coolest alternate uniform to come out of the “City Edition” campaign launched by Nike in its first year as the NBA’s official apparel sponsor — back on the market for fans, promoting the chance to scoop up a neon-accented version of Wade’s No. 3 before he can wear it himself for the first time:

Heat put @DwyaneWade jerseys on sale at 5pm yesterday. Received orders from more than 100 countries in 15 hours. Team merchandise sales are up 8000% from the previous two days. pic.twitter.com/nD3Gt0v2Ai

That’s not to say that bringing Wade back is just about fan service or goosing team store sales. Though many things about the Cavs weren’t working through the season’s first 50-plus games, Wade wasn’t one of them, averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 combined blocks-and-steals per 36 minutes of floor time, as he adjusted comfortably into a lower-usage, lower-wattage supporting role leading Cleveland’s second unit. His complementary playmaking, opportunistic defense and secondary scoring could prove a boon to a Heat team that’s lost Dion Waiters for the season, that’s won just three of its last 10 games, and that’s had to rely almost entirely on All-Star Goran Dragic and rising star Josh Richardson to create quality shots.

Wade’s no longer the caliber of player that he was even in the latter days of his Heat tenure, but there’s still a great chance that he can play a meaningful on-court role for Erik Spoelstra’s club. And if he manages to generate thousand-percent-spikes in merchandise sales along with more sustainably dangerous offense, well, so much the better.